Carlin
Carlin (Ray Winstone) is the main antihero in Scum. His number is 4737. A strong character; intelligent, resourceful and dominant, Carlin is incarcerated after taking the rap for his brother (who had numerous convictions) for stealing scrap metal. He arrives at the borstal intent on keeping his head down, having been transferred from another institution for assaulting a warder (he insists that this was in self-defence). For this reason, the warders are intent on making life as hard for him as possible. He befriends Archer quickly, however, after Archer helpfully informs Carlin on first meeting that his reputation had arrived long before Carlin himself did and that Banks, the 'Daddy', would be seeking him out, giving Carlin time to prepare. That said, the warders' deliberate decision to put Carlin in a dormitory with Banks and his honchos, rather than a single cell enables the bullies to give Carlin a thorough late-night beating, and Carlin's black eye earns him a period of time in solitary confinement for fighting. Cleverly, he endears himself to the Christian Governor by referring to his "comfort" in being Church of England, being polite and courteous - while denying a fight - and never querying punishments. After a fair amount of abuse and provocation from Banks and his toadies that gets him into even more trouble with the warders, he decides to take over. He does this through a mixture of verbal assaults of character. In a graphically violent sequence he makes a cosh from a long sock with two snooker balls inside which were picked up from the table in the association room as a comprehending Meakin and Toyne coolly accept this sudden alteration to their game. Walking into the adjacent sitting room he witnesses a sample of Richards' cynical bullying and proceeds to swing the cosh overarm into his face. The impact of Carlin's actions scares Eckersley, the other toady in the room. He obeys when Carlin tells him "Back, grass!" as he tries to escape to warn Banks. Carlin then replaces the balls on the table before going up to find Banks in the bathroom. Carlin administers a frenetic beating and kicking to the 'Daddy'. He leaves Banks in a bloody mess on the floor of the bathroom. Mr Sands finds him and further assaults him for succumbing to Carlin. The badly-injured Banks is not seen again. Although Carlin duly becomes the 'Daddy' and intends to maintain his position at all costs, he is rather more fair than the boy he usurped. For example, he is never seen abusing the weaker or younger boys to any extent or administering racially-motivated beatings on the black inmates (Banks has done both). He also continues to use Archer's brain and good company to keep him occupied, especially as the two have been assigned to work together in the laundry room. Carlin also gains some better status with the warders, who had previously given him punishments and beatings. He persuades Housemaster Goodyear to move him from the dormitory to a single cell in return for an agreement to be responsible in his status as a "natural leader". Another scene has Carlin discussing 'exchange rates' with Dougan, a numerately-intelligent inmate who, as the tea-trolley boy during visiting hours, had been deployed by Banks previously to collect the money brought in for inmates by their relatives. Only loose change is permitted in the borstal. Relatives don't appreciate this and Dougan often finds pound notes hidden under ashtrays. The notes can be exchanged for coins. Banks had given fifty pence in the pound, but Carlin only offers 40p, explaining that he has to give less, in order to assert himself. He is eventually persuaded into a compromise by Dougan to go up to 45p. Such attitudes are demonstrably necessary in such an environment, as Carlin must not be seen to be 'soft' - especially given his goodhearted protection of the more vulnerable inmates. Carlin tries to advise Davis on better ways to keep his head down after Davis is fitted up by Eckersley and placed on report, but ultimately cannot save the youngster from committing suicide. He is, however, subsequently unafraid to show leadership to every inmate by starting the dining room riot in protest at the lack of care and protection from the system shown to Davis. 1977 Version Carlin is portrayed again by actor Ray Winstone in this earlier BBC screenplay version with a few alterations, the most noteable being Carlin's same-sex relationship with inmate Peter Rhodes. This was dropped from the Alan Clarke 1979 film, much to Roy Minton's disapproval, as he claimed it added more vulnerable depth of character to Carlin. Ray Winstone has claimed he was not comfortable in portraying this earlier version of Carlin, and the homosexual scene was written out at Winstone's request for the 1979 remake. See Also *Ray Winstone *Characters & Cast